2.1Why Definition of Done Is Critical

The Definition of Done (DoD) is the team's shared agreement on what "done" means. Without explicit test criteria in the DoD, "done" defaults to "the developer thinks it works." This leads to stories being marked complete without adequate testing, bugs escaping to production, and arguments about whether something is really "done."

A well-defined DoD is the single most impactful process artifact a QA engineer can champion.